General Electric (NYSE:GE) Trading 0% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) traded up 0% during trading on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $165.00 to $192.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. General Electric traded as high as $166.26 and last traded at $164.50. 1,619,532 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 7,999,594 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.49.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of General Electric in a research report on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $190.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. TheStreet raised shares of General Electric from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $172.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total transaction of $3,195,107.85. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $1,843,615.55. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,552,351.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total transaction of $3,195,107.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Halpern Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Electric by 968.4% in the 4th quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 203 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its stake in General Electric by 90.2% during the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 232 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC increased its stake in General Electric by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC bought a new stake in General Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Stock Down 1.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $177.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $161.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.17.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.25 billion. General Electric had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. General Electric’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. General Electric’s payout ratio is currently 36.72%.

About General Electric

General Electric Company, doing business as GE Aerospace, designs and produces commercial and defense aircraft engines, integrated engine components, electric power, and mechanical aircraft systems. It also offers aftermarket services to support its products. The company operates in the United States, Europe, China, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa.